CVE-2023-20175 Command injection in Cisco Identity Services Engine Software

High 8.8 Published 1 Nov 2023 Updated 16 Dec 2025

Authenticated local attackers can inject commands via CLI to gain root privileges on Cisco ISE devices.

Exploited in the wild: Not known
Login needed: Any signed-in user
Attackable: Local or same network only
Victim action needed: Not needed
Fix: None listed

What is CVE-2023-20175?

CVE-2023-20175 is a high-severity command injection vulnerability in Cisco Identity Services Engine, published on 1 Nov 2023. It can only be exploited from the same machine or local network, with no action from the victim.

Official description

A vulnerability in a specific Cisco ISE CLI command could allow an authenticated, local attacker to perform command injection attacks on the underlying operating system and elevate privileges to root. To exploit this vulnerability, an attacker must have valid Read-only-level privileges or higher on the affected device. This vulnerability is due to insufficient validation of user-supplied input. An attacker could exploit this vulnerability by submitting a crafted CLI command. A successful exploit could allow the attacker to elevate privileges to root.

Weakness: CWE-78

Which versions are affected by CVE-2023-20175?

It affects 1 product.

Products include Cisco Identity Services Engine.

How do I fix CVE-2023-20175?

No fix has been published for CVE-2023-20175 yet. Limit exposure of the affected software until one is available.

Upgrade, and pass arguments to programs as a list instead of through a shell. More about Command injection.

Is CVE-2023-20175 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2023-20175 in the wild and no public exploit code.

All Cisco Identity Services Engine vulnerabilities

Sources

Also known as GHSA-333g-4p9h-pgjv.